It was now the evening.

I had just finished picking up the birthday cake I requested from auntie when I visited her yesterday, and was making my way to Taiga's dorm room, which is where we all agreed to rendezvous at before visiting Kawaguchi.

"Yuu-kun! We were just waiting for you!"

Opening the door to let me inside, Taiga greeted me with a grin.

"Hey."

I lightly raised my hand and went inside her room, where everyone else was. It seems I was the last to arrive.

"Now that Takanori-san's here... can we go?"

Tadokoro asked eagerly while clutching her neatly wrapped present close to her chest.

"Sure! Everyone got their presents?" Taiga asked.

"Of course. You got the cake, Takanori?" Akihiro asked.

"Yeah. My aunt came in clutch."

I showed them Kawaguchi's birthday cake. It was a classic strawberry shortcake, which was popular in the west.

"Awesome! Let's rock and roll!" Akari grinned.

"Hell yeah!" Yukimura cheered.

We headed out, using the elevator to go to Kawaguchi's dorm, which was on the first floor.

"Man, I can't wait to see his face when we bust into his room."

As we descended from the fourth floor, Akihiro expressed his excitement for this surprise party.

"He's gonna see you two and think, "what the hell are you doing here"? It's gonna be hilarious!" Yukimura laughed.

"Right?"

"Most of all, I hope it cheers him up seeing you and Akari-san." Taiga said.

"Once I slap the depression out of him with Fuzen it will."

"Ha, it'll be me and my Beast Deities that'll make him wake up and smell the coffee." Akari said.

"Bet. Whoever beats Masaru owes the other lunch on Monday."

"Eeeeeh? Bring it on, nerd!"

We arrived on the first floor and exited the elevator.

"Let's see... his dorm room is 104, isn't it?" Tadokoro pondered.

"Yeah. The rooms were assigned by gojuuon, so he should have the fourth dorm room."

I was the sixth boy in gojuuon order, and I have room 106, meaning the assignment of the rooms were based on register ordering.

"I had 103, and Masaru comes after me, so it checks out." Akihiro said.

"I'll give it a try." Akari shrugged before knocking on the door.

There was no response.

"No one's answering..." Tadokoro mumbled.

"Weird." Akari said.

"Akihiro-san, you visited Kawaguchi-san's place a lot right? Do you remember what room number he had?" Taiga asked.

"Ehh, not really. We usually hung out at locals, I barely went to his dorm."

"Oh... guess we're stuck at square one then."

"Jesus, we suck. How are we meant to throw him a mean ass birthday if we don't even know where the bastard is?" Yukimura growled.

"Maybe he's out right now...?" Tadokoro suggested.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure this is the place. He's probably not answering cuz he doesn't want to talk to anyone right now." Akihiro said.

"Oh..."

"Then... what do we do?" Akari asked.

"Hmm. Lemme have a crack at it."

Akihiro stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Oi, Masaru! It's me, Akihiro!"

There was no response.

"Did it work...?" Tadokoro mumbled anxiously.

However, after a few seconds, we could hear footsteps approach the door.

"Aha, got'm!" Akihiro grinned as he stepped back.

The door unlocked, revealing Kawaguchi peering through a gap in the doorway at us.

"...what?"

His eyes slowly widened as he saw all of us stand outside his dorm room.

"Aki-san... Akari-san... everyone else too..."

Finally dropping his guard, he fully opened the door to get a good look at all of us.

"What's going on...? W-why are you all here...?"

Presenting our presents to him, we all exclaimed together—

"Happy birthday, Kawaguchi-san!"

Kawaguchi opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. He lowered his head and turned his back on us.

"K-Kawaguchi-san...?"

Tadokoro worriedly spoke up after seeing Kawaguchi dejectedly turn away from us.

"...I can't believe you guys had the same idea as her."

"E-eh? Who...?"

Kawaguchi stepped to the side and gestured to his living room. We squinted our eyes and peered inside.

Sitting casually at the table was a tomboyish girl with short red hair, punk piercings, and tanned skin.

It was Kiba Ichika, from our class.

She was playing on her phone, so she hadn't noticed us yet. Tadokoro looked the most disturbed by this revelation out of all of us.

"As you can see... I already have a guest over." Kawaguchi sighed tiredly.

Somehow, Kiba managed to reach out to him before all of us.

"Ehh?! What's she doing here?!" Taiga exclaimed.

"Oi... what's that chick doing in your room?" Yukimura asked.

"Yo, when did you two become so buddy buddy? She your secret girlfriend or something?" Akihiro teased.

"Fu he he, I think I smell a ship~" Akari cackled.

"I-I didn't realise you were so close with Kiba-san..." Tadokoro mumbled.

I also wanted to add a comment, but I didn't want to get on Kawaguchi's nerves anymore than we already have. He was staring at us with severely unimpressed and disappointed eyes.

"Are you here to celebrate my birthday or mock me...? In any case, we're barely acquaintances... she forced her way in here. I didn't have a choice."

"What a crap answer." Yukimura scoffed.

"You should be glad I even answered..."

"Ain't that entitled of ya."

"Huh? Wanna say that again?"

The tension in the air suddenly spiked as Yukimura provoked Kawaguchi with his offhanded comment.

"I called you entitled. What of it?"

Yukimura, who wasn't about to let Kawaguchi excuse his behaviour with his poor mood, mocked him further.

"...it was a mistake opening the door for an idiot like you."

"Huh? Guess it was a mistake tryna be a good friend and celebrating your birthday too, asshole!"

Yukimura hurled his present at Kawaguchi, making it land squarely on his face with a loud smack.

"Yukimura! What was that for?!"

"Go ask that to your dumbass friend over there. Friggin bitch."

Akihiro tried to intervene between the two of them, but it was too late. Yukimura had become just as pissed off as Kawaguchi.

"...don't call me a bitch, you stupid piss licking mutt!"

Kawaguchi roared, twisting his hand into a fist and launching it at Yukimura's face.

"Ha, you wanna go? I'll gladly stomp on a skinny beanpole like you!"

Yukimura roared, suddenly thrusting his own fist at Kawaguchi's face.

"Oi, you guys can't be serious!" Akihiro growled, trying to break them up.

"K-Kawaguchi-san!" Tadokoro cried.

"Yukimura-san, stop!" Taiga exclaimed.

Before their fists could land on each other, someone swiftly came between them.

"Huh—?!"

"...get out of my way!"

It was enough to catch Yukimura off guard and stop, but Kawaguchi followed through with his fist in blind rage.

"Man, you seriously are a delinquent."

Then, a swift chop cracked down on Kawaguchi's back, throwing him off balance and making him fall to the ground.

"Gak! You bitch, what the hell was that for?!"

"To put ya in yer place, duh."

Cracking her knuckles with a cocky grin, the one who struck Kawaguchi down was none other than Kiba.

She must've rushed over to us from Kawaguchi's dorm room after hearing the commotion outside.

Everyone was shocked at seeing how fast she was at restraining him.

"W-woah..."

Even Yukimura was surprised by how strong Kiba was.

"S-scary..." Tadokoro squeaked before hiding behind me.

"You didn't have to do that... I could've handled it myself."

Kawaguchi clicked his tongue, getting up.

"Ahuh, and pigs can fly."

"Don't mock me..."

"I ain't. I'm being realistic. If I didn't I stop ya, you would've been creamed by that muscle head if ya seriously tried to fight him."

"Oi, don't call me a muscle head! I'm right here, you know!"

After hearing Yukimura, Kiba looked back and noticed the rest of us.

"Oh! Y'all are here to visit Kawaguchi too? Sup!"

She was acting like we didn't see any of what just happened.

"As you can tell... we're not friends. Not even acquaintances. We're strangers."

"But ya let me into yer room?"

"You threatened to kill me if I didn't..."

"I take archery for a reason. If I couldn't kill a man with a bow and arrow, then why do it?"

This girl was hardcore... I could feel Tadokoro shaking behind me just from being in Kiba's presence.

"You're screwed up in the head."

"Oi, so are you. Anyways, what're y'all doing here then?"

"We're here to celebrate his birthday. You?" Akihiro asked.

"Heh, funny enough, the same thing. I had no clue it was yesterday, so I dropped by to give him birthday beats."

"Oh yeah, we're legally allowed to hit Kawaguchi today." Yukimura grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"You were... when it was yesterday. Unfortunately for you, it's not the 12th anymore." Kawaguchi scoffed.

I'm more surprised that he was okay getting birthday beats. Yukimura clicked his tongue annoyedly.

"How many times did you have to knock on the door before he answered?" Akari snickered.

"Like... dunno, twice? I just kept shouting threats at him 'til he finally cracked."

"Isn't that illegal...?"

Kawaguchi looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. He simply sighed and trudged back into his dorm room, quietly closing the door as everyone had become preoccupied by Kiba's sudden appearance.

"Prolly. But I've been to juvie before, so I don't care."

"...ah? I'm sorry, you went to where?!"

Tadokoro started shaking even more. Taiga joined in hiding behind me.

"Juvie. Ju~vi~e. Got locked up for selling drugs. Ya know, the usual."

Akari was at a loss for words. Taiga also started shaking alongside Tadokoro. Yukimura and Akihiro exchanged glances at each other, as if trying to goad the other into asking Kiba to expand on the sudden bombshell she dropped on us.

"So... uh... if we can ask... why were you selling drugs?"

In the end, it was Akihiro who ended up taking heed of the conversation. Even Yukimura didn't want to get involved with someone as crazy as Kiba.

"Oh, it was the whole business model of the biker gang I used to run in the Akasaka district. Unfortunately, I got busted cuz of a snitch in my crew. The skank ratted on me cuz I didn't give her a raise, but I got my revenge when I chewed her out to the police to get out early. Now she's serving time for her crimes while I'm out here free, ka ha ha!"

I was surprised by how awfully lax Kiba was about disclosing this information. It was clear why she ended up in E Class just from listening to her past alone...

"Holy crap, we have another delinquent in our class..." Yukimura muttered.

"Correction, former delinquent. I'm like Kawaguchi, I quit that life."

"Was juvie that bad?"

"Eh? Nah, it was chill. There were a couple girls who tried stabbing me though, dunno what that was about."

"That doesn't sound chill at all!"

Now it was Akari who joined in hiding behind me. Oi, why am I the human shield here...?

"I quit cuz I saw my older brother on TV."

"Huh? Is he a celebrity or something?"

"Depends on if you're into the thing he's famous for."

"What's he famous for?"

"Everyone's favourite, Vanguard!"

"Not my favourite. Who is it, then?"

"Kiba Emon of Team Spiral Terra and Ace of Fukushima University!"

"Who—"

Akihiro shoved Yukimura to the side and took control of the conversation.

"Kiba Emon... as in the national champion, Kiba Emon?! Y-you're his little sister?!"

"Hey, don't shove me..."

"Shut up, this is more important!"

Akihiro's passion for Vanguard trumped Yukimura's anger over being pushed.

"Yep. Surprising right?"

"I would've never guessed, holy crap!"

"We're nothing alike. While he found himself a nice group of friends and achieved something with his life, I found myself a gang and threw my life away. Seeing him on the screen when I was locked up made me reflect on my own life."

There was a sincerity in Kiba's words that none of us could ignore. Even Tadokoro started to stop shaking slightly after hearing this.

"I didn't wanna waste my life locked up in a cell. I wanted to do something impressive, like he did. Something that would get mom and dad to recognise me again."

"Recognise you again?"

"Ah. I got disowned after they found out about everything I did."

Just like Kawaguchi, Kiba's parents also disowned her. I wonder if that's how she managed to get him to open up to her. Both of them had very similar lives during middle school.

"Sorry to hear that."

"It's chill. I hope I can earn back their trust sometime in the future. Emon's too. I haven't spoken to any of 'em in years now."

"Good luck with that. I'm sure you can do it."

"Heh, thanks man."

Kiba looked behind her at Kawaguchi's closed door and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh crap, I didn't realise he left us!"

"He did, didn't he..." Taiga deadpanned.

"That bastard." Yukimura grunted.

"It was awhile ago, if you didn't notice." I said.

"Whoops, my bad! I should prolly get outta your hair now, heh. I came here to do what I needed to do, so I shouldn't waste anymore of your time with him."

Kiba shrugged before waving goodbye with a cheeky smile.

"Have a nice evening y'all!"

As she left, Tadokoro timidly called out to her.

"...K-Kiba-san!"

"Huh? Ya calling for me, uh... countryside girl?"

Since she was a bit of a loner, Kiba hadn't learnt the names of everyone in our class yet.

"Umm... um... t-thank you!"

Kiba raised her eyebrows.

"For?"

"F-for... for reaching out to Kawaguchi-san... and managing to breakthrough to him!"

In the end, this was what Tadokoro wanted the most. She wanted to make progress in snapping Kawaguchi out of his slump.

"Eh? It's nothing, it's nothing! We just had a couple things in common, that's all."

"B-but still... you did something that none of us could... y-you managed to talk to him."

Now that Kiba had opened the path for us a little, it was up to the rest of us to carve that path wide open to save him.

"And you can do the same. That was the easy bit, anyways."

"E-easy bit...?"

"The hard part is actually convincing him that he can still redo his life."

After leaving us with that hint, Kiba entered the elevator and went back to her dorm room.

"In other words... to get the Kawaguchi-san we all know and love back, we need to prove to him that giving up is worse than trying to improve." Taiga said.

"But how are we gonna do that?" Akihiro said.

When Taiga said that, I was immediately reminded of someone.

"...I have an idea."

"What is it?" Akari asked.

"Spit it out." Yukimura said.

I pointed at room 105.

"Let's ask Kouji-san to join us."

"Huh? Have you gone mad?" Yukimura said.

"Wait... what? I don't get it." Akari said.

"Think about it. We just have to show Kawaguchi-san that giving up is worse than trying to improve, right? There's one man who embodies that more than anyone else... Kouji-san. Just like Kawaguchi-san, Kouji-san is also someone who has given up on life."

Everyone was shocked by my bold comparison at first, but they soon started to see it for themselves.

"They're both lifeless zombies that are only doing the necessary things to get by in life as they patiently wait for death to take them away. However, unlike Kouji-san, Kawaguchi-san hasn't given up entirely. We can warn Kawaguchi-san about the consequences by using Kouji-san as an example of what will happen to him if he continues down this path."

"That's a great idea in theory, but how are we gonna execute it?" Akihiro asked.

"In the first place, I don't think that slacker will be bothered to join us. And even if he did, I don't think he'd offer Kawaguchi any good advice. He'd just encourage him to give up." Yukimura said.

"Even so, if we make Kawaguchi-san realise he's on the same path as becoming Kouji-san, wouldn't that scare him enough to try becoming better again?" Akari asked.

"Yeah, I think making him realise he's acting just like Kouji-san will be more than enough. Once he realises that much, he'll subconsciously compare himself to him and try to avoid that outcome." Taiga said.

After hearing everyone's opinions, Tadokoro shook her head vehemently in protest.

"I... I disagree."

"Eh? Yumiko-chan, where's this coming from?" Taiga said.

"Do you have a better idea, Tadokoro-san?" Akari asked.

"N-no, but... um... I-I don't think that's what Kawaguchi-san needs right now. He doesn't need to be compared to with someone else. If we do that when he's like this... it'd be insensitive to his feelings!"

We were all taken aback by how boldly Tadokoro was speaking right now. It was the complete opposite of how she usually was.

"Kawaguchi-san doesn't need that... he doesn't want that kind of solution... he's already realised that by giving up, he could end up like Kouji-san... I'm sure of it! Otherwise, why did he try so hard to try and make up for the past here in the first place?!"

After hearing her speak so passionately, I had to agree with her. Kawaguchi probably did realise that he was going to end up like Kouji by doing this. But he was okay with it, because he had nothing else to live for.

My idea wasn't what Kawaguchi needed. It was a narrow-minded solution that ignored the root of his issue, which stemmed from the fact his life was ruined.

"Kiba-san said the hard part was convincing Kawaguchi-san he could still redo his life... that doesn't mean we have to convince him there's something worse... we have to convince him that there's something better waiting at the end."

If we wanted to bring him back to how he used to be, we had to nip the evil in the bud.

"Yeah... you're right, Tadokoro-san. My bad. He doesn't need to be preached at."

It seems I didn't really understand Kawaguchi enough to properly help. It's a good thing Tadokoro was here, she knew him better than the rest of us.

"If he doesn't need that... then what does he need?" Akari asked.

"He wants everything to go back to how it used to be... he wants to go back to the time before Shigeru-san exposed him."

"But that's impossible. We can't turn back time." Yukimura said.

"I know... that's why, I think... instead of doing that... we need to help him accept the fact that this is the situation he's in. And that... we need to show him it's okay. We need to show him that everything will be okay, even if everyone knows his secret!"

"We've tried doing that so many times though, Yumiko-chan... what makes you think it'll work this time?" Taiga asked.

"Because... more people are here! Kawaguchi-san is scared of the whole world turning their back on him because of the past... but we need to show that we haven't! We need to show him that he still has us, even if nothing else!"

We could feel how heartfelt her sentiments were as she shared them with everyone else.

"...Tadokoro's right. We have to show him that we're still by his side, no matter what." Akihiro said.

"What really has changed since then? If anything, more people are scared of him, which is kinda a good thing." Yukimura said.

"For us? Nothing. He's just going through a rebellious phase. At the end of the day, he's still our goofy Kawaguchi-san." Taiga said.

"Yeah! And if anyone tries to hurt him over his past, then they'll have to deal with us first!" Akari said.

"Yes... because we're his classmates... no, because we're his friends! We'll stick by his side through thick and thin!" Tadokoro exclaimed.

"Let's show him that by throwing him the most kickass last minute party ever." I said.

"Hell yeah! Glory to the loser faction, bitches!" Yukimura roared.

"Glory to the loser faction!" They cheered.

Akihiro and Yukimura charged forward, trying kick open the door together.

"He won't mind a little property damage, right?"

"It's fine, we can pay for it later!"

Just before they could barge in with brute force, the door clicked open.

Akihiro and Yukimura came to a skidding halt, stepping back as the door opened slowly.

Emerging from the dorm room was Kawaguchi.

"K-Kawaguchi-san?!"

Tadokoro was the most surprised to see him come out.

"You don't have to kick down the door... I was right next to it the entire time."

"E-eh? Does that mean... y-you heard everything we said?!"

Tadokoro's cheeks went red with embarrassment.

"Yeah... I was eavesdropping the entire time... listening to what everyone said..."

His back was hunched and his head was lowered, skewing his face.

"And, I... I-I realised something..."

Kawaguchi raised his head, revealing his overflowing tears to us.

"I... I, I don't deserve any of you guys..."

He buried his face into his hands shamefully.

"After the way I acted... after the way I treated you all... after pushing everyone away... I don't know why you're still here for me..."

Buckling to his knees, Kawaguchi sobbed his heart out.

"Even so, I'm glad... I'm so glad that... you're still here, even after learning about my darkest secret... about the worst thing I've ever done... I thought you'd all given up on me... yet you're still here... still stubbornly trying to bring a worthless piece of trash like me back...!"

He bowed his head deeply in forgiveness and prostrated his body to the floor.

"That's why... I'm sorry! I'm sorry for causing so much trouble... for making any of you worry... and most of all, for hurting any of you... I'm sorry for everything I've done... and that includes giving up on myself!"

Wiping his tears away in a rush, Kawaguchi stood up tall to face all of us sincerely.

"That's why... thank you! Thank you for staying by my side... even now. Especially you... Tadokoro-san."

Like a phoenix rising up from the ashes, a newfound spark lit up in Kawaguchi's once dead eyes.

He was reborn.

Tadokoro was shaking, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

"K-Kawaguchi-san... Kawaguchi-san, you're back...!"

Without thinking, she ran over and tightly hugged him.

"Yeah... I'm back... I swear!"

Kawaguchi hugged Tadokoro tightly.

"We missed ya, bro." Akihiro grinned, joining in their hug by throwing an arm around Kawaguchi.

"Same! This is the Masaru-san I know!" Akari exclaimed, also joining them by hugging Kawaguchi's back.

"Yay, group hug time!" Taiga giggled as she also joined in by somehow hugging all four of them.

"I ain't doing that." Yukimura bluntly said.

"If you aren't, then I aren't either."

"Safe. Me and Takanori are happy for ya Kawaguchi, but we ain't doing such a girly thing!"

"Wait, that's not what I said—"

"Shaddup, are you a man or not?"

Of course the only thing Yukimura cares about is whether or not he looks manly...

"Jeez, way to ruin a moment you two." Taiga glared at us.

"In my defence, I'm holding a birthday cake..."

"What's your excuse, Yukimura-san?"

"I'm a man."

"That's sexist!"

"No it's not. Men don't give hugs, we give fist bumps!"

Kawaguchi extended a fist to Yukimura.

"Then give one here, brother."

"Now we're talking! Sorry bout tryna punch ya earlier."

"No hard feelings man. I feel the same."

Kawaguchi and Yukimura smiled at each other as they bumped fists.

"Takanori-san... you too?"

He extended his fist to me next.

"Sure thing."

I also bumped Kawaguchi's fist.

In the end, it was Tadokoro who managed to save Kawaguchi from losing himself.

"You guys should come in!"

Kawaguchi ushered us into his room to celebrate his birthday.

"I thought you'd never ask." Akihito grinned.

"Excuse the intrusion!" Taiga laughed.

"Dibs on the sofa!" Akari said.

"This place is surprisingly clean for a guy..." Yukimura muttered.

"Kawaguchi-san... happy birthday." Tadokoro smiled.

"Here's your birthday cake. Sorry if you don't like it, we didn't know what your favourite flavour was."

I handed Kawaguchi his birthday cake. He looked inside the bag and laughed.

"My favourite is red velvet, but strawberry shortcake also slaps. Thanks, Takanori-san."

He unwrapped the cake and put in the middle of the table. Tadokoro took out some candles and put them in the cake.

"Who was in charge of the lighter?"

"I was!"

Yukimura whipped out a pocket lighter and laughed like a madman.

"T-try not to burn the cake!"

"With sixteen candles, that might be a hard task..." Akihiro muttered.

"Oi! Don't underestimate me or I'll set you on fire!"

"Let's not make jokes about fire..." Akari sighed.

Yukimura looked at Kawaguchi and scratched his cheek.

"Oops... my bad."

"Just... just get on and light the candles already." Kawaguchi said awkwardly.

"Yessir."

Yukimura lit the candles and presented the cake to Kawaguchi.

"Voila. Blow 'em out real hard, birthday boy!"

"That sounds so wrong..."

"I'm tryna raise the mood, damn it!"

"Yukimura-san, not so loud! You're gonna put out the candles!" Taiga exclaimed.

"Tch..."

"Three, two, one... happy birthday to you~!" Tadokoro began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you~: Happy birthday to Kawaguchi-san~! Happy birthday to you~!" We sung.

With one big puff, Kawaguchi blew out all the candles.

"Yay, yay, hip-hip, hooray!"

Everyone started clapping and laughing.

"Now, let's dig in!"

With a smile, Kawaguchi cut the cake into seven slices - one for every one of us.

I picked up a piece of cake and bit into it.

It seems everything's going to be alright after all.